Relief-valve.



J. W. Rows.

BELIEF VALVE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1997.

Pgifintedfiept. 22, 1908.-

UNITED STACEE i gr gnnr oFmoE. 1

JOHN W. ROWE, OF SOMERVILLE, )LKSQSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NORWALLMANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK}. Y., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RELIEF-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented se, e2, 1908.

Application filed. June 10, 1907. Serial No. 378,069.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Joux V Rowe, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Im n'ovements inRelief- Valves, of which the following is a specification.

y invention relates to improvements in relief-valves for steamheating-system &c. in which a partial vacuum is created in the returnpipe by suitable vacuum creating devices, t to object of my inventionbeing the production of an automatic valve devoid of iloats, springs,thermostatic or other similar meansfor making said valve operative, my

purpose being to so simplify said valves as to make them lcssliable toget out of order.

Ileretofore the draining of radiators &c. has been done by valvesprovided with either float-s, dia )hragms, springs or thermostaticdevices, all or several of which being elements in each of the differentvalves to make such valve operative, and the failure of anyone of theseparts to perform its function, causes the valve to fail.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which .Figure1 is a vertical sectional view, Fig. 2 a horizontal sectional view ofthe sliding valve stem on line -0 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontalsectional view of the said stem and sleeve on line X-X of Fig. l andFig. l is a vertical sectional view of a. modification of my improvedvalve.

Similar reference numbers indicate similar parts in the several views.

The body 1 has the usual thoroughfare formed by an inlet 2 and an outlet3 and with a valve seat 4 upon the outlet, which is closed by a valvemember 5 when in normal position. The valve 5 isformed with parallelsides and is preferably integral with a stem 6 and plunger or piston 7the latter serving as the"motor for operating the valve, and

with a guide extension 8. The valve stem and extension 8 are providedwith a small vent hole 9, said hole terminating in and connecting with aside hole 10 near the upper end of the extension portion, the opening ofwhich is controlled by a cone-pointed screw valve 11. The piston orplunger portion 7 of the device fits closely into the cylindrical part12of the hood 13, the piston having a vent 15 which communicates with thecham-- ber 16 in the hood. Depending from the piston 7 is a sleeve 18,suitably fastened to the under side of the piston, the diameter of thissleeve being slightly larger than that of the valve 5 so as to leave asmall annular space between the inner surface of the sleeve and theouter face of the valve. This annular s )ace is relatively slight andproduces a. capillary effect upon the water as it rises in the mainchamber of the valve casing and causes it to pass slowly into the s morebetween the sleeve 18 and the stem 6, this space forming a chamberindicated at 17. An annular inner llange 19 at the top of the hood 13serves as a guide for the extension 8, and 20 is a cap over the upperend of the hood l3 and int-losing the upper end of the portion 8. Thespring 21 is adapted to be used as a bumper or cushion and is preferablyemployed to cushion the valve and prevent injury thereto if the valve 0)CDS suddenlyf By this arrangement instea of the piston striking againstthe shoulder 22 in the hood the spring will receive the impact andabsorb it, thus rendering the valve cushioned and noiseless The modifiedstructure shown in Fig. 4 is substantially the same as that shown inFig. 1, except that the body is smaller and adapted to .be placed at ahigher point upon the radiator, the latter not being shown. In themodified structure a guide stem 22 and a regulating screw 23 is placedbelow the valve 5 instead of above as shown in Fig. l and the pistonarticulates with the body in stead of with the hood.

-'lhe dot anddash lines in Figs. 1 and 4' show the water line.

Such being the construction, the operation is as follows: \Vhcn therelief-valve is connected with a radiator and with a vacuum creatingdevice, and the steam is turned on in the radiator to which the deviceis attached, the air will be driven out through the sleeve chamber 17the vent 15, the chamber 16 the side hole 10 and the valve stem vent 9,as shown by the arrows, the quantity of air passing there-through beingre ulated by the adjusting screw 11 to suit the location of the radiatoraccording to its distance from the steam generating means. \Vhen thewater of condensation enters the valve cas ing at 2, it tindsno outletas the valve is held normally closed, hence the water is confined ingformed between the valve 5 and the sleeve 18 which it closes andprevents the escape of air; but as the vacuum creating means continuesto draw'the air confined in the chamber 16, the piston is drawn upward,b v reason of its area being much larger than the area of thevalve,and held in that position until the water level is reduced to apoint below the free end of the sleeve, when the vacuum in the upperchamber is destroyed and the valve permitted to close against the waterbut open to the es.-

cape of air, and when the level of the gath ered water of condensationagain reaches a point indicatedby the dot and dash line yy, theoperation is repeated. A

It is to be noted that the sleeve 18 over laps the valve 5 and forms arestricted assage between the sleeve and valve establishingcommunication betweei the chamber 17 ton rises and allows the water toand the chamber in the valve body 1. This sleeve 18 is extended tooverlap the valve 5 in this manner so as to cause the valve to act atmore frequent intervals, effected by the moisture of the air and steamcondensing and sealing the restricted passage at short intervals owingto the capillary attraction of the water to the vertical sides of thispassage. hen the opening is sealed, the pisass out through the o ening3. This or course breaks the sea and as the valve immediately closesagain, this frequent action keeps the smallair )assa 'e through theiston free from any d irt which might tend to close it. The intermittentfeature caused by the capillary seal tends therefore to keep the valveclear and insures no resistance to the steam flowing to the radiator orheater to which the device is attached, or in other words, the deviceprovides for the discharge of the arr, and operates todischarge thewater immediately on the small uantity of water accumulating that isrequired to establish the seal. \Vithout the seal, it is ob vious thatthere would be a constant pas age of air and steam through the valve.

, It will be seen from the foregoing description that there are no partsliable to get out of working order, and when desired, the cap or-hood 13can be unscrewed and the inner working parts cleaned or removed forexamination without in any manner disturb- I ing any complicatedmechanism or requiring removal of the valve from the radiator forthepurpose of such examination or clean- .\0 error can be made inreassembling as the operating part is reduced to a Silfi'lt piece,namely the combined piston 7, valve 2 g Q i 899,07'7' I g.

valve body.

Such being my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1; In a relief valve a valve bod havm an inlet-and an outlet, a valvecontrolling the flow of liquid throu h said valve body and formed withparallel sides, a motor device embodying apiston carried by the stem ofsaid valve and dividing the space in the valve body into two chambers, asleeve depending from said piston and partly overappiug the, parallelsides of the valve and g 5, and guide 8, which articulates with the.until the level rises above the annular ope slightly spaced therefor-m,said pistonprovidcd with two restricted passages, one connecting thechamber above the piston with the chamber between thede ending sleeveand the. valve stem and the 0t 10! connecting the chamber above thepiston with the valve outlet.

2. In a relief valve, a valve body having an inlet and an outlet, avalve controlling the flow of fluid through said valve body, a mot-ordevice embodying a iston carried by the stem of said valve and ividing'the space in the valve body into two chambers, and provided with a vent,a sleeve depending from said iiston 'exteriorly of the vent thereof withIts free end overlapping said valve and slightly spaced therefrom, thevent in said piston connecting the chamber above the iston with thechamber between the dcpem in sleeve and the valve stem, and a restrictedpassage through the piston connecting the chamber above the piston withthe valve outlet. l v

3. In a relief valve, a valve body having an inlet and an outlet, avalve controlling the flow of fluid through said body, a motor deviceembodying a piston carried by the stem of said valve and dividing thespace in the valve body into two chambers, a sleeve depending from saidpiston with its free end overlapping said valve and slightly s12" dtherefrom, a restricted air passage through the piston connecting thechamber above the 'piston with the chamber between the depending sleeveand the valve stem, and a second restricted air passage through thepiston con: necting the chamber above the piston with the outlet, andmeans for regulating the flow of air through said last named passage.

t igned at the city in the county of New York and State-of New York this29th day of May A. D. 1907.

JOHN YV. ROWE.

